Historic First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, USA (founded 1837) is the largest Presbyterian congregation in the State and one of the largest in the United States. A flagship congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), First Church played a significant role in establishing the PCA (the largest conservative Presbyterian denomination in the English-speaking world), Reformed Theological Seminary, and Reformed University Ministries (a nationwide campus fellowship).

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

It's Tuesday again! That means "Derek, you are meant to blog on the FPC page"! And so far, I have spent three hours dealing with e-mail! Mostly other hats I wear (RTS, refomration21). Questions to answer, requests to speak, articles to write, meetings to attend. It never ends. Some were for 2009! Am I guilty of presumption if I try and answer these for 2009? Do I need to try and sound really spiritual and add deo volente (DV) to these?

Time! The world is obsessed with it. We wear watches to remind us of the exact time. What did Paul do? Jesus didn't wear one! They had time-pieces, of course, usually in city squares that followed shadows cast by the sun. What did they do on cloudy days? They wouldn't have worked too well in Britain which is overcast on most days.

Last Thursday, the Oxford Dictionary gurus announced that "time" is the most often used noun in the English language! The word "the" is the most commonly used word overall followed by "be,""to," and, "a," "in," "that," "have," and "I," according to the "Cincise Oxford English Dictionary."

On the top list of 25 nouns, "time" is followed by "year," (3rd), "day," (5th) and "week," (17th). "Person" comes in second and "man" at No. 7 and "woman" at No. 14.

It all goes to show that we are obessed with time. That sage, Wil Rogers, was correct when he suggested that half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we've rushed through life trying to save!

For everything there is a season,And a time for every matter under heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die;A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;A time to kill, and a time to heal;A time to break down, and a time to build up;A time to weep, and a time to laugh;A time to mourn, and a time to dance;A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;A time to seek, and a time to lose;A time to keep, and a time to throw away;A time to tear, and a time to sew;A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;A time to love, and a time to hate;A time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8